the trail of lewis and clark volume ii sample

THE TRAIL OF LEWIS AND CLARK

1804-1904

VOLUME 2 OF 2

L e w i s a n d C l a r k i n c a m p o n T r a v e l e r ' s R e s t( L o l o ) c r e e k , M o n t a n a . T h e s c e n e r e p r e s e n t s t h e a p -pearance of the three Tushepaw, or Flathead Indians,on September 10, 1805. Clark is facing the reader,L e w i s a n d t h e S h o s h o n e g u i d e a r e s e e n i n p r o f i l e , a n dS a c á g a w e a a n d t h e p a p o o s e a r e b e h i n d t h e m .

From an oil painting by E. S. Paxson

TheTrail of Lewis and Clark

1804-1904A story of the great exploration across the Continent in

1804–06; with a description of the old trail, basedupon actual travel over it, and of the changes

found a century later

By

Olin D. WheelerMember of the Minnesota Historical Society

Author of “6000 Miles through Wonderland,” “Indianland andWonderland,” “Wonderland 1900,” etc.

Two Volumes

With 200 Illustrations

VOLUME II.

G. P. Putnam’s SonsNew York and LondonThe Knickerbocker Press

1904

Copyright 1904B Y

OLIN D. WHEELER

Published, June, 1904


By Olin D. Wheeler

Vol. 1 Trade Paperback ISBN: 1-58218-725-8Vol. 1 Hardcover ISBN: 1-58218-727-4

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Published by DIGITAL SCANNING, INC. Scituate, MA 02066781-545-2100 www.digitalscanning.com

1804-1904

VOLUME I

Vol 2 Trade Paperback ISBN: 1-58218-726-6Vol 2 Hardcover ISBN: 1-58218-728-2

o

As Published in 1904

VOLUME 2

books back to life, retaining the look and feel of the original work.

Cover portraits of William Clark and Meriwether Lewis were paintedby Charles Willson Peale (1741-1847), and are used with thepermission of Independence National Historic Park, Philadelphia.

C O N T E N T SCHAPTER PAGE

I. – Three Forks of the Missouri to the Head-

waters of the Columbia 1

5 1

1 1 5

194

II. – Crossing the Mountains

III. – Down the Columbia

IV. – The Winter at Fort Clatsop (1805-1806)

V. – Homeward Bound – Fort Clatsop to Traveller’s-

Rest Creek

VI. – Route of Captain Lewis to the Mouth of the

Yellowstone River

VII. – Route of Captain Clark to the Mouth of the

Yellowstone River

VIII. – The Return to St. Louis

Index

236

287

3 1 7

370

3 8 6

VOL. II. i i i

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGELewis and Clark in Camp on Traveller’s-Rest (Lolo)

Creek, Montana. The Scene Represents theAppearance of the Three Tushepaw, or Flat-head Indians, on September 10, 1805. Clarkis Facing the Reader, Lewis and the ShoshoneGuide are seen in Profile, and Sacágawea andthe Papoose are behind them. Frontispiece

From an oil painting by E. S. Paxson.

The Cañon of the Jefferson River, near PhilosophyRiver, now Willow Creek

The Beaver’s-head Rock of Lewis and Clark, LookingSouth. This is now Locally Known as the Pointof Rocks

Resolutions Adopted by the Bar of St. Charles, MO.,upon the Death of Hon. Geo. Shannon

Facsimile of Page 55 Codex “G” Clark, Describingthe “Beaver’s-head”

The True Beaver’s-head Rock of Lewis and Clark,below Dillon, Mont., as Seen from the South

The Rock Locally Known as Beaver’s-head Rock, the“Rattlesnake Cliff” of Lewis and Clark, as Seenfrom the South

3

7

9

13

17

21

v i I l l u s t r a t i o n sPAGE

Rock Opposite “Rattlesnake Cliff,” above Dillon,Mont., now Generally, but Erroneously, Knownas the Beaver’s-head Rock – Looking North 29

Map Showing the Route of Lewis and Clark in 1804-1806 from the Three Forks of the Missouri toRoss’s Hole 5 0

53A P a c k T r a i n i n t h e S a l m o n R i v e r C o u n t r y

The Route of Lewis and Clark, Crossing the BitterRoot Range, Lemhi River to Mouth of WallaWalla River 57

Head of Cañon of Bitter Root River, near Junction ofRoss’s Fork and Camp Creek 63

Fla thead , o r Sa l i sh , Ind ian Women on the JockoReservation, Montana 67

St. Mary’s Mission, Stevensville, Mont., where FatherDe Smet Established Himself among the Salish,o r F la thead , Ind ians . B i t t e r Root Range inthe Background 71

The Old Indian Trail along the East Fork of the BitterRoot Road, at Wagon Bridge, near Wildes’sSpring 75

Junction of the Traveller’s-Rest – Lolo Creek andBi t t e r Root River , Montana 77

Clearwater – Kooskooskee – River Salmon 79

High Pinnacle Rock at Lolo Hot Springs, Montana.The Old Trail can be Seen just to the Left oft h e R o c k i n t h e T r e e s 83

I l l u s t r a t i o n s viiPAGE

Glade Creek and Meadow. The Headwaters of Koos-kooskee – Clearwater – River. Lolo Pass inDistance

Lewis and Clark in the Heart of the Bitter Root Moun-ta ins

(From an oil painting by Paxson).

Facsimile of Page 2, Codex “Fd.” Lewis. RecordsFi r s t S igh t o f Kansas Pra i r i e , Idaho , f romRocky Ridge, Bitter Root Range

Wheeler and Wright in Camp at Weitus Meadow in1902. Wright Standing

Hungry Creek, Idaho, below where Captain Clark103Killed a Horse for Food on September 19, 1805

A Bit of the Old Indian, or Lolo, Trail at Lolo HotSprings, Montana

The Bitter Root Range at Head of Colt-killed – WhiteSand – Creek

Route of Lewis and Clark Across the Bitter RootMountains in September, 1805 and June, 1806

Descendants of the Chopunnish Indians of Lewis and113Clark

Kamas Bulbs . Used as Food by the Chopunnishand Other Ind ian Tr ibes

The Branding Iron of Lewis and Clark Found in 1892

Junction of Collins, or Lolo, Creek and the Kooskoos-kee, or Clearwater River, Idaho

The Lewis and Clark Medal , Found a t Mouth ofColter’s Creek, or Potlatch River in 1899

89

93

97

100

107

110

419

116

118

120

123

viii I l lus t ra t ionsPAGE

Junction of Kooskooskee, or Clearwater River andColter’s Creek, now Potlatch River, Idaho 127

Junction of Lewis or Snake River with the Kooskoos-kee, or Clearwater River. The Town is Lewis-ton, Idaho, and the Bridge Spans the SnakeRiver 129

A Combined Harvester and Thresher, Used in Har-vesting in the Clea rwate r and Wal la Wal laR e g i o n s , I d a h o a n d W a s h i n g t o n 133

An Old Indian Sweat-Bath House. The Rocks Seenhave been Hea ted and Used to Produce theV a p o r B a t h a n d T h e n h a v e b e e n T h r o w nAway 135

Group of Indians Living at the Junction of the Snake-Lewis – and Columbia Rivers, and Showingthe Rush Mats Used in the Construction of theirHouses 137

Facsimile of Page 33, Codex “H” Clark, being a Mapof the Country at the Junction of the Columbia,Lewis, or Snake, and Tapetell – Tap-teal – orYakima Rivers, Washington 141

T h e R o u t e o f L e w i s a n d C l a r k . M o u t h o f S n a k eRiver to For t C la t sop 143

A Umatilla Indian Tepee of Rush Mats on the Colum-b ia R ive r i n 1904 144

Photographic Reproduction of Map (made by Lewisand Clark) of the Great or Celilo Falls of theColumbia River 147

Illustrations i xPAGE

Great or Celilo Falls, of the Columbia River, aroundwhich Lewis and Clark Made a Portage on Oc-tober 23, 1805

Mount Hood, 11,225 Feet High, and a Salmon FishWheel, from the Dalles, Oregon

Grant’s Castle, on the Columbia River, Characteristicof Columbia River Bluffs

Fort Rock, at Mouth of Quenett, or Mill, Creek, theDalles, Oregon, where Lewis and Clark Campedin October, 1805, and in April, 1806

Lower Columbia River Indian of the Present Time,and their Rush-Mat Houses

Memaloose Alahee, or Sepulchre Island, ColumbiaRiver. Shows the Trevett Monument and theRemains of Old Indian Burial Huts and IndianSkeletons

Interior of Salmon Cannery on the Columbia River.200,000 Cans of Salmon in Sight

Photographic Reproduction of the Map by Lewis andClark of the Lower Falls, or the Cascades of theColumbia River. The Cascades are ‘The GreatShoot”

Bridal Veil Falls, Columbia River

Beacon Rock of Lewis and Clark, – Columbia River.178Now Known as Castle Rock

Copyright by Kiser Bros.

Lone Rock, Upper Columbia River, about Fifty Milesabove Portland, Oregon

Copyright by Kiser Bros.

150

153

156

159

163

165

168

174

170

182

x Il lustrationsPAGE

Photographic Reproduction of the Map of the Mouthof the Columbia River by Lewis and Clark 185

North-head Lighthouse, Cape Disappointment, nearMouth of Columbia River 187

Fort George, or Astoria, in 1811. Tongue Point in theD i s t a n c e 190

Courtesy of Oregon Historical Society.

S i t e o f F o r t C l a t s o p , 1 9 0 4 195Astoria, Oregon, Cape Disappointment in Left Dis-

tance; Chinook Point – Point Open-slope ofSergeant Gass – in Middle Distance

S a l m o n F i s h i n g o n t h e L o w e r C o l u m b i a R i v e r

Remains of the Old Lewis and Clark Salt Cairn, or Fur-nace, near Seaside, Oregon, in 1899. The LateSilas B. Smith, a Descendant of the Chief Cómo-wool of Lewis and Clark, Seated thereon

Facsimile of Pen-and-Ink Drawing by Captain Lewisof California Condor, “Pseudogryphus Califor-nianus.” From Codex “J,” Lewis, p. 80, Fort

209Clatsop

Pillars of Hercules, along the Columbia River, nearVancouver, but on the Oregon Shore. O. R. R.& N . C o . R a i l w a y i n F o r e g r o u n d

Page 152 from Codex “J,” Lewis Meteorological Rec-ord, January, 1806, Fort Clatsop

Columbia River Salmon

Facsimile of Pen-and-Ink Drawing by Captain Lewisof the Cock of the Plains, “Centrocerus uro-phasianus.” From Codex “J,” Lewis, p. 107,Fort Clatsop

199

204

207

213

217221

225

Illustrations x i

Along the Columbia River

Owl Rock, on the Columbia River

The Old Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment, Mouthof Columbia River. One Hundred Years AgoVessels Crossed the Bar just to the Left of theLighthouse

Old Fort Vancouver, Washington. Established bythe Hudson’s Bay Company in 1824

Courtesy of Oregon Historical Society.

Cape Horn, Columbia River, above Vancouver, Wash-ington

Mt. St. Helens, from the Columbia RiverCopyright by Geo. M. Weister.

Facsimile of pp. 28–29, Codex “K,” Lewis. Map ofJunction of Columbia and Multnomah – Wil-liamette Rivers, from Indian Information 245

Multnomah Fall, Columbia River, More than 800 Feetin Height 249

Fish Wheels on the Columbia River 251

Latourelle Fall, on the Oregon Side of the ColumbiaRiver 255

Pe-tów-ya, a Cayuse Indian, who, as a Girl , SawLewis and Clark in 1806. She Died in 1902,

Mouth of Walla Walla River, near Hunts Junction,Washington, where Lewis & Clark Campedwith Yellept, April 27–29, 1806

PAGE228

231

234

237

239

243

257

261

x i i IllustrationsPAGE

Kooskooskee, or Clearwater, River, near Colter’sCreek, or Potlatch River, Idaho. Lewis andCla rk Forded the S t ream near he re on theHomeward Journey in 1806 2 6 4

Commerap, or Kam-i-yáhp, or Kámiah, or Lawyer’sCañon Creek, Idaho, on which Lewis and ClarkCamped from May 10 to May 13, 1806 267

Site of Camp Chopunnish of Lewis and Clark, in 1902,on the Kooskooskee River. The Circle, fromwhich the Snow was Removed to Show theOutline, Marks the Location of an Old IndianBrush House such as Lewis and Clark Describea s i n E x i s t e n c e i n 1 8 0 6 2 7 0

A Nez Percé, or Chopunnish, Brush Wickiup, in 1902,at the Ford of Collins, or Lolo, Creek, Idaho,such as were Used by Lewis and Clark at CampChopunnish, in 1806 2 7 2

A Nez Percé – Chopunnish – Indian Woman of thePresent Day 274

Northern Pacific Railway Bridge across Kooskooskee,or Clearwater River, at Lewis and Clark’s OldCamp, Chopunnish, which was at Farther Endo f t h e B r i d g e 277

The Old Ford at Collins, or Lolo, Creek, between CampChopunnish, or Kámiah, and Weippe Prairie. 280

The “Point of Woods,” where Lewis and Clark prob-ably Camped on Weippe Prairie, Idaho, June10, 1806 283

Illustrations xiii

A View from the Car Window on the Route of Cap-ta in Lewis a long the Hel lga te River , Mon-tana, near Missoula, Hellgate Cañon in theDistance

Trapper Chased by the Blackfeet IndiansFrom drawing by Paxson.

Captain Lewis Shooting an IndianFrom an old print from A Journal of Voyages, etc., byPatrick Gass.

Wolf Calf, one of the Blackfeet whom Captain Lewisa n d P a r t y F o u g h t w i t h o n H e a d w a t e r s o fMaria’s River in 1806. This Represents Himi n 1 8 9 5 w h e n 1 0 2 Y e a r s O l d

Courtesy of Geo. Bird Grinnell.

Old Fort Ellis, near Bozeman, Montana, Showing Dis-tant View of the First Ridge of the BozemanPass which Captain Clark Crossed on July 15,1806, Clark’s Camp, the Night of July 14th, wasat the Right Centre Edge of the Illustration

Upper Gallatin Valley, Montana, the Gallatin Rangein Background. The Camp of Captain Clark,on July 14, 1806, was in the Centre Foregrounda m o n g t h e B r u s h

The Main Bozeman Pass, the Road – Successor of theOld Tra i l , – and Nor the rn Pac i f i c Ra i lwayTunnel. Captain Clark was here on July 15,1806

PAGE

291

301

306

313

320

324

328

xiv I l lus t ra t ions

The First “Dividing Ridge” or “Gap” of the Boze-man Pass, Montana, across which Captain ClarkPassed on July 15, 1806

Bozeman, Montana, and the Bridge Range, ShowingS a c á g a w e a P e a k a t t h e E x t r e m e L e f t a n dSnow-covered

L o o k i n g E a s t t o w a r d Y e l l o w s t o n e R i v e r a n d t h eSnowy Range, from Bozeman Pass and Tunnel.Captain Clark Passed down the Valley onJ u l y 1 5 , 1 8 0 6

The Gate of the Mountains, at Livingston, Montana.The Yellowstone River Flows through the Gapfrom Yellowstone Park, and Captain Clark’sNoon Camp of July 15, 1806, was within theLimits of the Illustration

Bozeman Pass and Railway Tunnel from the East

A Crow – Absa roka – Squaw and he r Daugh te r s .The White Ornaments are of Elk Teeth.

Pompey’s Pillar, on the Yellowstone River from theWest

Iron Grating over the Signature of Captain Clark, onPompey’s Pillar, Montana

Signature of Captain Clark Cut on Pompey’s Pillar

Route of Captain Clark. Three Forks of the Missourito the Mouth of the Yellowstone River.

PAGE

3 3 0

332

336

340

341

345

349

351

353

357

Illustrations xv

PAGEThe Custer Monument on the Battle Field of the

Little Big Horn River, Montana, of June 25,1876 359

View up the Yellowstone River from the Top of Pom-pey's Pillar 363

A C r o w – A b s a r o k a – I n d i a n 368(F rom a d r awing by Paxson ) .


CHAPTER ITHREE FORKS OF THE MISSOURI TO THE HEAD-

W A T E R S O F T H E C O L U M B I A

BY the 30th of July everything was ready for anotherforward movement. Clark had recovered; the men hadbeen busily engaged in dressing skins and making new gar-ments and moccasins; Sacágawea had recounted to themthe story of her capture, at which time four men, fourwomen, and some boys had been killed and others madecaptive; the “celestial observations” had been completed,and no th ing fu r ther remained to be done . The canoestherefore were again loaded, and on the morning of the 30ththey once more began their marching, wading, pushing,towing, and poling up the Jefferson. The river was crooked,the current rapid, the shoals numerous, the islands many,the toil continuous.

At noon they halted for dinner at the place where theBird-woman had been made prisoner. She and her peoplehad been attacked at the camp below and had retreated upthe stream, hoping to escape their pursuers, but the efforthad been in vain.

The men, being too few to contend with the Minnetarees,mounted their horses and fled as soon as the attack began. The

VOL. II, - 1. 1

2 The Trail of Lewis and Clark

women and children dispersed, and Sacajawea, as she was cross-ing at a shoal place, was overtaken in the middle of the river byher pursuers.

Capta in Lewis aga in took charge of the land par ty ,Clark be ing too weak as ye t to indulge in any fea t s o fpedes t r ian ism. Lewis had a wet and muddy t ime of i tfloundering through the bayous formed by the beaver dams,in water up to the waist, and he was finally forced to thehigh ground bordering the river. When he tried to regainthe party at camping-time he was unable to find them andhad to bivouac for the night without them. The night wascool and his covering was the canopy of the sky, but a goodfire of driftwood kept him warm, and a duck appeased hishunger. The next morning the voyageurs overtook him andaf te r b reakfas t they d i scovered a seven-mouthed r ive r ,which they named Philosophy, after an attribute of “thatillustrious personage Thomas Jefferson.” Philosophy Riverhas since become plain Willow Creek.

The Jefferson for some miles now flows through a cañon,and at the upper end of the cañon i t turns southward –ascending it – and there opens out a long, wide, mountain-hemmed and beautiful valley, the counterpart of the one atThree Forks.

While advancing through the cañon, Lewis, who hadpreviously remained within communicable distance of Clarkand the main body, taking Gass, Drewyer, and Chaboneau,left the others, cut loose from their base, so to speak, andwent ahead, along the north side, still hoping to find theShoshoni. They were now at the extreme point reached byClark during his reconnaissance of July 26th. Clark hadthen supposed, from what he saw, that the Jefferson turnedto the nor th , the mounta ins h id ing i t s t rue course , andLewis was therefore surprised to find that this northernstream was a tributary instead of the main river, the latter

The

Can

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Phi

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Riv

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Wil

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3


flowing from the opposite point of the compass, a few milesbeyond. This a f f luent , now Boulder River , they namedFields’s Creek after Reuben Fields.

On this day Lewis discovered a new species of pheasant,the northern dusky grouse, and a new (Maximilian’s) jay.He found also the bones and dried excrement of buffaloes,showing that these animals occasionally ranged in the valley.

The Captain, on the morning of August 3d, waded theriver, in the vicinity of Whitetail Deer Creek, and con-tinued up the south – east – side of the river. Had he re-mained on the other side he would have been saved someuse less t ramping on the fo l lowing day , bu t would havemissed a stream afterwards noted in Western chronology.On the 4th he plunged ahead, finally leaving the immediatevalley of the main river entirely, and upon crossing a lowspur o f the “snowy mountains on the left [east]” foundhimself on the banks of a “handsome little river, aboutthirty yards wide.”

He now turned southwest, reached the main stream, theJefferson, again, which fact he doesn’t appear to have recog-nized, waded across to the north – west – side and then,making a retrograde march down-stream, arrived “at thejunction of this [the Jefferson] river with another which risesfrom the southwest.” He now found that his camp of thenight previous had been just above the junction of the mainriver with this new and “bold, rapid, clear stream, . . .so much obstructed by gravelly bars, and subdivided byislands” as to be useless for navigation, which was to theman important matter just then.

In giving names to the two streams he had just dis-covered, Lewis says:

I called the bold rapid an [and] clear stream Wisdom, and themore mild and placid one which flows in from the S. E. Philan-t h r o p y , i n c o m m e m o r a t i o n o f t w o o f t h o s e c a r d i n a l v i r t u e s ,

Three Forks to Headwaters of Columbia 5

which have so eminently marked that deservedly sel ibratedcharacter [Jefferson] through life.

These rivers are now charted as the Big Hole, or Wisdom,and the Ruby, or Stinkingwater.

The party immediately waded the Wisdom River andmarched up its north, or west, bank to a point near whereit issues from the mountains, where they camped. Thefollowing morning Chaboneau had another attack of in-abili ty “to march far to-day,” so that Lewis instructedGass and the interpreter to re-ford the river, cut across thecountry leisurely, and wait for him on the Jefferson.

Lewis and Drewyer then continued up the Wisdom, sooncrossing to the other side, and upon reaching a cañon fromwhich the stream issued, ascended a mountain where theyobtained a view of the entire country, embracing in i tsscope both the Wisdom and Jefferson valleys.

On descending the mountain Drewyer slipped and hada dangerous fall, but they finally reached Gass’s camp longafter dark, having crossed en route a broad Indian trail,but the tracks found were old ones. The next morning theystarted for the forks, down-stream, Gass close to the river,to meet Clark’s party, if ascending; Drewyer off on a hunt,and Lewis and Chaboneau headed directly for the junctionof the Jefferson and the Wisdom.

In the meantime Captain Clark and his men had beenslowly and laboriously working up the stream, tussling withthe rapids and shallows and bayous, “in which are multi-tudes of beaver,” and, at places, “the current being sostrong as to require the utmost exertions of the men tomake any advance even with the aid of the cord and pole.”

A bit . of the narrative for August 4th will show thebeauties of navigation on the upper Jefferson in 1805:

We are obliged to drag the canoes over the stone, as there isnot a sufficient depth of water to float them, and in other parts


the current obliges us to have recourse to the cord. But as thebrushwood on the banks wil l not permit us to walk on shore,we are under the necessi ty of wading through the r iver as wedrag the boats . This soon makes our feet tender , and some-t imes occasions severe fal ls over the s l ippery s tones, and themen, by being constantly wet, are becoming more feeble.

On August 5th Clark reached the confluence of the Jeffer-son and Wisdom rivers. Lewis had, on the 4th, left a notehere directing Clark to continue up the Jefferson, “but un-luckily Captain Lewis’s note had been left on a green polewhich the beaver had cut down and carried off with the note,”so that Clark was thus at a loss to know which stream toascend. He went up the Wisdom for several miles until hemet Drewyer, on the 6th, returning from his hunt. Drewyerinformed Clark of his mistake and the latter at once turnedback for the forks. On the way, “one of the canoes upsetand two others filled with water, by which all the baggagewas wet and several articles [were] irrecoverably lost.” Asone of the canoes

swung round in a rapid current, Whitehouse was thrown out ofher , and whi ls t down the canoe passed over him, and had thewater been two inches shal lower would have crushed him topieces; but he escaped with a severe bruise of his leg

Just before reaching the forks Captain Lewis overtookthem and they hastened on to the junction, where they madecamp and p roceeded to d ry the soaked supp l ies . Th i soverturning and consequent loss of equipment enabled themto abandon one canoe when they re-embarked.

At this point we find an interesting statement. In orderto preserve their powder and to economize space, etc., theformer had been packed and sealed “in small canisters oflead, each containing powder enough for the canister whenmelted into bullets,” they, of course, having to mold theirown ba l l s . Th is a r rangement was a wise and ingen ious

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one. Not once in the entire exploration did they experiencedanger from a powder explosion, and these lead canistersalso enabled them to cache the powder with perfect freedom.

From Clark’s camp on the Wisdom River, Shannon hadbeen sent ahead up the stream to hunt. When the retro-grade movement took place Drewyer was sent to overtakeShannon and bring him back, but he failed to find him.“We now had the trumpet sounded, and fired several guns,but he did not return, and we fear he is again lost.” Thenext morning, August 8th, R. Fields was sent to search forShannon, but returned without finding a trace of him. Thepreceding afternoon the combined party had gone on up theriver and continued to move onward on the following days,

It seems to me that, under the circumstances, this failureto make a more determined attempt to find Shannon, whowas almost a mere boy, is , to some extent, censurable.They sent him out to hunt, then absolutely reversed theirprogramme and route, of which he was entirely ignorant,and went on up another river, leaving him finally, “to getout of his scrape” the best way he could. But Shannon wasequal to the emergency this t ime. When, returning fromhis hunt, he did not meet the party ascending the river, heconcluded that they had passed up the stream unobservedby him and he accordingly “marched up the river [Wisdom]during all the next day, when he was [became] convincedthat we had not gone on, as the river was no longer navi-g a b l e . ” H e t h e n , l o g i c a l l y , r e t u r n e d t o t h e j u n c t i o n ,supposing a change of plan might have taken place, and, fol-lowing up the Jefferson, reached the party at its breakfastcamp of August 9th, safe and sound, but “much wearied”with packing along three deer-skins.

Immediately after breakfast of the 9th,Captain Lewis took Drewyer, Shields, and M’Neal, and slingingtheir knapsacks they set out with a resolut ion to meet some


n a t i o n o f I n d i a n s b e f o r e t h e y r e t u r n e d , h o w e v e r l o n g t h e ymight be separated from the party.

Resolutions Adopted by the Bar of St. Charles, Mo., upon the Death of Hon.Geo. Shannon.

Lewis made good time and on the night of the 10thcamped at what they called Shoshone Cove, an importantpoint in the itinerary of the expedition.


Captain Clark was to have taken this tr ip, but Clarkwas used up “ f rom the rage ing fury of a tumer on myanckle.” He had been obliged to “nurs” his feet for somet ime , and l iv ing on no th ing “bu t ven ison and cur ran t s”had, he also thought, weakened him. The trip had becomean absolute necessity, for the river was now almost unnavi-gable, and horses must be obtained if further progress wasto be made, and these could only be traded for among theIndians.

From Sacágawea they knew that her tribe was not fardistant and it is, perhaps, a question whether it would nothave been wise for the main body to have remained quietlya t the mouth of Wisdom River and have rec ru i t ed the i rs t reng th whi le awai t ing Lewis ’s re tu rn , and then havecached their canoes there.

Clark’s party advanced at a discouraging rate of speed.From ten to fourteen miles of river navigation per day,with an actual advance of from four to six miles in directlines, was the record. On the 10th they passed the Beaver’s-head, Philanthropy (Ruby, or Stinkingwater) River havingbeen left behind on August 8th, before Lewis departed; onthe 13th they reached the future site of Dillon, Mont., andon the 14th the mouths of Rattlesnake and Blacktail Deercreeks were passed, and they camped a short distance belowRattlesnake cliffs on the evening of August 14th.

At the cliffs, the river again emerges from a cañon, andthe par ty to i led th rough th i s s t re tch of sha l low wate rdragg ing the canoes a g rea te r pa r t o f the way , pass ingWillard’s Creek on the 16th and reaching the Two Forks ofthe Jefferson below Shoshone Cove on the 17th, just intime to calm Captain Lewis’s fears and to rescue him froman embarrassing situation.

On one of the many side streams of the Jefferson. Colterand Potts, later, had their memorable adventure with the


Blackfeet, in which Potts lost his life. The scene of thisexploit has usually been placed in the locality about the Bea-ver’s-head, probably because the great width of the val-ley there gives room for that wonderful run of Colter’sacross six miles of prickly pear plain, to the Jefferson.

After the great fur companies had been fully organizedand the mountains had become an important theatre ofoperations in 1830 and the years following, the valleys ofthe Three Forks and the Jefferson became the most valuableof the fur trapping-grounds. The trappers poured in thereyearly, in large companies, for mutual protection againstthe Blackfeet; but even then conflicts were of almost dailyoccurrence, and when a man went out to attend to histraps no one knew whether he would ever again be seen alive.

One of these conflicts, in which Wm. H. Vanderburgh, anoted leader and partisan of the American Fur Company,lost his life, is described by Ferris, who was a participant inthe fight and who was wounded. It gives a good idea of aphase of the process of evolution by which this beaver-ponded valley was transformed from a bloody wilderness toone of peaceful homes and ranches. It likewise shows thestriking contrast between the peaceful, if laborious, pro-gression through the valley of Lewis and Clark in 1805,and that of the trappers of 1832. One company was seekingIndians, the other seeking to avoid them. Ferris says:

On the 14th [October, 1832] we descended from the hills andencamped near this run eight miles below the narrows, on asmall plain, surrounded by the most imposing and romanticscenery. During our March we had an alarm of Indians f romsome of our hunters; and myself and others went to ascertainthe truth We proceeded, however, but a short distance whenwe found the remains of a [buffalo] cow, just butchered, and evi-dently abandoned in haste, which satisfied us that the butchershad f led for safety or assis tance We returned and reportedthe discovery to our partizans. In the mean time a rumor was


current that a par ty would go and ascer ta in more of the mat-t e r , a f t e r w e s h o u l d e n c a m p . . . .

Accordingly we equipped ourselves and sallied out of campone after another, where we collected to the number of seven ashort dis tance from i t . We proceeded up the r iver about threemiles, and found a fire yet burning, near a cow evidently killedbut a short time previous, and also perceived traces of Indiansfollowing a buffalo trail up along the margin of the river. Theneighboring hills were covered with vast herds of these animals,that appeared to be qui te unalarmed, and from these favorableappearances we were confident there were not more than seveno r e i g h t I n d i a n s i n t h e p a r t y W e c o n t i n u e d o n a b o u t t h r e emiles further, directing our course towards the only dense groveof timber on this part of the river. where we were certain of find-i n g t h e m , u n l e s s t h e y h a d f l e d t o t h e m o u n t a i n s A b o u t 5 0yards from the r iver we crossed a deep gul ly through which apart of its current flows during the spring tides and were care-ful ly scrut inizing the grove, on which every eye was f ixed ine a g e r c u r i o s i t y , w a t c h i n g e a c h w a v e r i n g t w i g a n d r u s t l i n gbough to catch a gl impse of some skulking savage. Suddenlythe l ightning and thunder of a t leas t 20 fusi ls burs t upon ourastonished senses from the gully and awoke us to a startling con-sciousness of imminent danger magnified beyond conception bythe almost magical appearance of more than 100 warriors, erectin uncompromising enmity, both before and on either side of us,at the terrifying distance (since measured) of thirty steps.

Imagination cannot paint the horrid sublimity of the scene.A thousand bri l l iances ref lected from their guns as they werequickly thrown into various positions, either to load or fire, suc-ceeded the first volley, which was followed by a rapid successionof shots, and the leaden messengers of death whistled in our earsas they passed in unwelcome proximity. At that instant I sawthree of our comrades f lying, l ike arrows, from the place ofmurder . The horse of our par t izan was shot dead under him,but with unexampled firmness, he stepped calmly from the life-less animal , presented his gun at the advancing foe, and ex-cla imed “boys, don’t run”: a t the same moment the woundedhorse of a Frenchman threw his rider and broke away towardscamp. The yells of these infernal fiends filled the air, and deathappeared inevitable, when I was aroused to energy by observingabout 20 Indians advancing to close the already narrow passagebetween the two lines of warriors. Dashing my spurs rowel deepinto the flank of my noble steed, at a single bound he clearedthe ditch, but before he reached the ground, I was struck in the

Facsimile of Page 55, Codex G Clark, Describing the “Beaver’s-head.”

13

1 4 The Trail of Lewis and Clark

left shoulder by a ball, which nearly threw me off; by a desper-ate effort, however, I regained my upright position and fled. Afriend (R. C. Nelson) crossed the gully with me, but a momenta f t e r h e w a s c a l l e d t o r e t u r n . W i t h o u t c o n s i d e r i n g t h e u t t e rimpossibility of rendering assistance to our devoted partizan, hewheeled, but at the same instant his horse was severely woundedby two bal ls through the neck; which compelled him to f ly;he yet kept his eye for some moments on our friend, who, seeinghimself surrounded without the possibi l i ty of escape, level ledhis gun and shot down the foremost of his foes . The Indiansimmediately fired a volley upon him – he fell – they uttered aloud and shrill yell of exultation and the noble spirit of a goodand a brave man had passed away forever.

T h u s f e l l W m . H e n r y V a n d e r b u r g h , a g e n t l e m a n b o r n i nIndiana, educated at West Point in the Military Academy, and,at the time he perished, under thirty years of age. Bold, daringand fear less , yet caut ious, del iberate and prudent ; uni t ing theapparent opposi te qual i t ies of courage and coolness, a soldierand a scholar, he died universally beloved and regretted by allwho knew him.

Repeated reference has been made to the Beaver’s-head.A quota t ion f rom the nar ra t ive o f Augus t 8 th wi l l bes tintroduce this rock to the reader.

On our right is the point of a high plain, which our Indianwoman recognizes as the place called the Beaver’s Head, from asupposed resemblance to that object. This, she says, is not farfrom the summer retreat of her countrymen, which is on a riverbeyond the mountains , running to the west . She is thereforecertain that we shall meet them either on this river, or on thatimmediately west of its source, which, judging from its presentsize, cannot be far distant.

The narrative for August 10th, in recounting the pro-gress of Clark’s detachment contains a further reference tothis rock:

We . . . came to what the Indians call the Beaver’sHead, a steep rocky cliff about one hundred and fifty feet high,near the right side of the river. Opposite to this, at three hun-dred yards from the water, is a low cliff about fifty feet in height,


which forms the extremity of a spur of the [Ruby] mountain,about four miles distant on the left.

The Beaver’s-head Rock, as the quotation from Ferrisshows, has been a well-known and conspicuous landmarksince Lewis and Clark first brought i t to our attention,Their description well represents the spot, except that thesmaller companion rock across the river is now close to thestream, in fact, is at one point washed by the Jefferson.The rock is decidedly the most prominent landmark in thevalley and can be seen from a distance of many miles andfrom all directions.

The Beaver’s-head, or Beaverhead, as it was perhaps morecommonly called, is about twelve miles south from TwinBridges and eighteen miles north – by road – from Dillon,Mont., and has been and is now generally known as the Pointof Rocks. Because of this and of another curious, existingfact, few persons in the immediate region appear to knowthat the Point of Rocks is the true Beaver’s-head, and if suchan assertion be made to most residents of Dillon, for exam-ple, it will probably draw forth an absolute denial and alook of commiseration for him who has the temerity tomake such a statement.

The Beaver’s-head, known to the people of the upperJefferson, or Beaverhead Valley, as this part of the river isnow usually called, is a rock ten miles south from Dillonand is in reality the Rattlesnake Cliff of Lewis and Clark.

This latter rock, as a matter of fact, although not ashigh as the Point of Rocks Beaver’s-head, bears just asstrong, if not a stronger resemblance to the head or even thewhole body of a beaver, so that there is some excuse,reasoning from analogy alone, for this misconception andtransposition of names. There is, however, no question asto the original names of these rocks, but it is strange thatLewis and Clark did not record this double similarity in the

1 6 The Trail of Lewis and Clark

same locality, for the Beaver’s-head is less than thirty milesbelow Rattlesnake Cliff, and the beaver-like resemblance ofthe cliff is easily recognized even at a distance.

The Beavers-head of Lewis and Clark is stated by themto bear N. 24° E.; and Rattlesnake Cliff, which is at theirgap where “the river enters the mountains” in ascending it,bears S. 18º W. from a certain limestone rock, which I thinkI saw in the outskirts of Dillon, and which is ten milesbelow this gap.

That both of these points were known and called by thenames tha t Lewis and Cla rk gave them, as l a te as thethirt ies, is proved by further reference to Ferris. In hisjourna l fo r 1831 , whi le encamped wi th some F la theadIndians two or three miles above the mouth of the Philan-thropy or Stinkingwater River, he says:

Six miles above the forks [where the Wisdom and Phi lan-thropy rivers join the Jefferson] on the west side of the Jefferson,there is a bluff or point of a high plain jutting into the valleyto the br ink of the r iver , which bears some resemblance to abeaver’s head, and goes by that name [italics mine]. Hence theplains of the Jefferson are sometimes called the Valley of BeaverHead.

Granville Stuart, in Montana as It Is, published in 1865,refers to this point as the Beaver’s-head. At more than oneplace Ferris refers to the mouth of the cañon above Dillon,from which the river issues, as Rattlesnake Cliff.

Lewis and Clark also refer to the cliff above Dillon inthe v ic in i ty of where Rat t lesnake Creek f lows in to theJefferson. This creek Lewis and Clark named Track Creek,and Blacktail Deer Creek they called M’Neal’s Creek afterone of their men. Grasshopper Creek was also named forone of the party, Willard’s Creek, and they mentioned BaldMountain – “a snowy mountain to the north” – in con-nection with the sources of Track, or Rattlesnake Creek.

17

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Wisdom River impressed them strongly, and at the timethat they explored it they concluded that it carried as muchwater as the Jefferson, or even more, but the water was morescattered and the river not being navigable for a great dis-tance determined them sti l l to follow the latter stream.They do not seem to have examined the Wisdom beyondits last and oblique northeast course, and at any rate formedno c lea r concep t ion o f the pecu l ia r bends made by thestream. Its shape is that of a big dipper with the bowl atits confluence with the Jefferson, where the town of TwinBridges is now built . I ts remotest sources interlock withthose of the Jefferson which the explorers followed afterreaching the Two Forks above the Rattlesnake Cliff cañon.Had Lewis and Clark known this, or known either, while atthe mouth of Wisdom River, what their subsequent ex-periences were to be among the Salmon – Lemhi – RiverMounta ins , they might no t have se t t l ed the ques t ion ofroute so easily.

Both Wisdom River and Willard’s Creek are still moreor less known as such, but most modern maps show themas Big Hole River and Grasshopper Creek either alone or asalternative names.

Besides the great changes effected by irrigation in thisbeau t i fu l va l ley , which inc lude la rge i r r iga t ion cana ls ,se t t l e r s , f a rms , towns , roads , and ra i lways , wi th the i raccompanying de ta i l s , the re have been wrought equa ltransformations by mining. In the South Boulder range,whose snowy peaks the explorers faced upon leaving ThreeForks and through which the cañon of the Jefferson ledthem transversely, and in the main Rockies west of, andacross the valley from, the South Boulder Mountains, thereare found to-day, prosperous mines and mining camps fromwhich have f lowed in to the wor ld’s channe ls o f t rademillions of dollars. Just across the range from the head-


waters of Pipestone Creek lies Butte, the greatest miningcamp of the world. In common with other parts of Mon-tana, there was much prospecting and development workdone around Butte in the sixties, but it was not until 1875or 1876, when copper was discovered, that Butte began toshow its real character.

Since 1882, the Butte mines have produced considerablymore than $500,000,000, in proportions, approximately, ofgold 3 per cent., silver 35 per cent., and copper 60 per cent.,and they now furnish about 25 per cent. , of the copperoutput of the world.

Anaconda, a little west of Butte and the place wheremost of the Butte ores are treated, is the city of enormoussmelters, those of the world-known Amalgamated CopperCompany. There are two plants with an aggregate capacityof nearly 10,000 tons of crude ore daily, and the new plantrepresents an expenditure of more than $5,500,000.

Mining is seen in its most advanced and scientific aspectsat Butte and Anaconda. Electricity and compressed airare employed wherever possible, and in the construction ofhoisting works, smelters, concentrators. etc., the latest ideasare uti l ized and the best machinery installed. The pro-duction, financial operations, etc., of these corporations areon a colossal scale. There were employed in the mines ofButte during 1900 nearly 8700 men; the monthly disburse-ments, largely among the mines and smelters, were almost$2,000,000; the dividends paid amounted to a little lessthan $14,000,000, and the mine production, gold, silver,and copper, was $50,000,000. In the last ten years thesemines have paid in dividends more than $43,000,000.

The waters of Wisdom River are now flumed into Buttefor city uses, and electricity from a power-house on one of thebanks of the stream is transmitted by wire to the same place.

After Lewis and Clark had reached a point above the true


Beaver’s-head, they were flanked by mountains on each side,out of whose Pactolian gulches golden streams of marvel-lous, phenomenal richness were to flow, such as wouldstartle mankind.

In the year 1862, just fifty-seven years after Lewis andClark first passed along this valley, gold was discovered onWillard’s Creek. Two men, John White and William Eads,the latter said to be a son of Captain James Eads, the cele-brated engineer of St. Louis, were the discoverers, and to thetown which sprang up was given the name Bannack, after anIndian tribe of that name. The “diggings” at Bannackwere marvellously rich and a stampede to them ensued, notonly from other parts of Montana, but from Colorado andthe West in general. In 1864, when the Territory of Montanawas created, Bannack became the first capital.

Scarcely had the excitement of the surprise occasionedby the finding of the rich placers at Bannack (I use the oldspelling of the word, the second a is now usually changed too) subsided somewhat, before “Bill” Fairweather, HenryEdgar , and the i r a ssoc ia tes rode in to Bannack and an-nounced that on May 26, 1863, they had discovered anotherrich gulch. This was the renowned Alder Gulch, of which,among several mining towns within its confines, Virginia Citybecame the chief and widest known, and was the Territorialcapital from 1865 to 1875.

Alder Gulch is reputed to have been the richest gulch everknown. Its discovery, which, of course, would have beenmade sooner or later in any event, was entirely accidental.On February 4, 1863, a company of eight men left Bannackon a prospecting tour. They were to meet a larger party ledby James Stuart, one of the most remarkable men of thattime and region, at the mouth of Beaverhead – Jefferson –River, near where Twin Bridges and Sheridan now stand.Missing them, they followed on, endeavoring to overtake

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them, but were captured by Crow Indians, released, and inmaking their way back to Bannack camped on a small creek.The men, with the exception of Fairweather and Edgar,largely from habit probably, went out to prospect a little,the two latter remaining to watch camp and the horses.Fairweather, noticing a piece of “rim rock,” Edgar and hetook a shovel, pick, and pan, went to the ledge, and Fair-wea ther dug up a panfu l o f d i r t and Edgar washed i t .After washing, there was gold in the pan worth $2.40, andwhile Edgar was panning, Fairweather found a nugget worthexactly the same amount.

The finding of this $4.80 was the discovery of Alder Gulch,as the other men found nothing, and before they had re-tu rned to camp Edgar and Fa i rwea ther had panned ou t$12 .30 in go ld . Edgar named the gu lch f rom the a lde rbushes growing on i ts banks, and the district was namedafter Fairweather, who, years afterward, dying from dis-sipation, was buried near the site of his discovery.

Alder Creek is one of the higher branches of PhilanthropyRiver, and the placers on this stream are reliably stated tohave produced at least $60,000,000 between 1863 and 1876.The gravels have been worked and reworked and workedagain, and at the present day are being handled by a processof dredging which returns to its operators a good interest onthe investment, and the same remark applies to the placersat Bannack.

Silver first attracted attention in Montana in 1864, whenargentiferous galena was found on Rattlesnake Creek, notfar from Bannack, at a point called Argenta, which is alsoabout twelve or fifteen miles northwest from Dillon. Thefirst successful si lver smelter erected in Montana was atArgenta in 1867. Argenta and Bannack are now quiet littleburghs, Dillon is a thriving and growing place, and VirginiaCity maintains itself remarkably well.


A feature of those early days of mining was the Vigilantes,an organization the origin and operations of which have beenmuch misapprehended. It is difficult for an outsider torealize the cosmopolitan character of that early-day popula-tion. Along with honest, hard-working men intent uponmaking a good livelihood, and perchance a fortune, therecame, literally, perhaps, from the ends of the earth, many ofthe very reverse order. Thieves, thugs, fugitives from jus-tice, outlaws, the riff-raff from all over the West, – and thismeans a long way east from Montana, – adventurers of allsorts, poured into Bannack and Alder Gulch intent uponluxuriously rioting in sin and violence where courts andconstabulary were wanting.

Secretly banding together, many of them, these roadagents, as they were called, had their haunts, spies, places ofrendezvous, etc., all over the region, so that it finally be-came a serious question whether any man suspected ofhaving gold dust or money could possibly journey safelyfrom one place to another, be the distance long or short, andto incur the ill-will of one of these men, from whatever cause,meant death. It is known that one hundred and two per-sons were killed by these road agents, and there were un-doubtedly many more.

To countervail the power of the road agents the Vigilanteswere finally compelled to organize secretly. As all lawcomes from the people, so it did here. It was a last andserious effort, a forlorn hope, to enforce the spirit of the lawwhere the usual legal adjuncts were lacking. It was reallythe essence of law without its technical forms, the kernel ofthe nut without i ts shell . The men subject to the judg-ments of the Vigilantes were impartially tried, without, how-ever, the frivolous delays of the law, and the judgmentswere promptly executed. As soon as officials and court’smade their appearance, in 1864, and the regular legal


machinery was set in motion, the Vigilantes’ organizationvoluntarily ceased to exist, and this fact is the best argu-ment for the righteousness of the movement.

The road be tween Bannack and Vi rg in ia Ci ty was afavorite one for the operations of the road agents and therewas then heavy t rave l over i t . The road ran nor theas tfrom Bannack down Rattlesnake, or Track Creek, thencedown the Beaverhead, or Jefferson River to Beaver’s-headRock, where, crossing the river and a spur of the mountain,it ascended Philanthropy River to Virginia City. Near thesummit of the divide near Bannack stands a low but some-what prominent and isolated rock known as Road Agents’rock from its use by these men as a hiding spot in theirhold-up operations.

In the valley of the Philanthropy was a ranch – Daly's, –which was one of their rendezvous. The house is still stand-ing and in use. The valley of the Rattlesnake was a favoritegathering point for these gentry. The Vigilantes finally ridthe country of these desperadoes by a determined and con-tinuous man hunt and by the banishment or summary exe-cution of most of them when caught, after due trial.

Into most of this region the locomotive has now pene-trated. Along the Jefferson from the Three Forks to themouth of Alder Gulch; up Frazier’s – Antelope – Creek andPhilosophy River – Willow Creek – and along the Panther –Pipestone – Creek the Northern Pacific trains now run.South from Butte the Oregon Short Line extends to SaltLake City, following, for many miles, the Wisdom Riverwhere it forms a fine and picturesque cañon, and, after climb-ing the divide, reaches the Jefferson at Dillon, crossing thestream near the l imestone rock before mentioned. It thenfollows this river through the Rattlesnake Cliff cañon, pastthe Two Forks of the Jefferson, near which is Shoshone Cove,and on to the summit of the mountains at the Montana-


Utah l ine . The only por t ion of the Je f fe rson not nowparalleled by a railway track lies between the mouth ofPhilanthropy River, near the Beaver’s-head, and Dillon.

Captain Lewis had, at the Two Forks of the Jefferson,reached an eventful point and stage in his journey. He hadbeen following some old horse tracks on an Indian road, ortrail, and at the forks it was at first uncertain which branchwas the proper one to take. He first tried the left-hand or“southwest branch,” but the horse tracks soon disappearedand he then examined the western fork. There the tracksreappeared, so the party pushed ahead, first leaving a notefor Captain Clark, to hold him at the forks until Lewis shouldreturn, and that night – August 10th – they camped atShoshone Cove. The morning of the 11th of August, Lewisstarted early but the tracks soon wholly vanished.

We will now follow Lewis’s movements until the partybecame re-united and will let the journal, for the most part,tell the story. Lewis, after losing the tracks

went straight forward to the pass, sending one man along theriver to his left and another on the right, with orders to searchfor the road, and if they found it to let him know by raising ahat on the muzzle of their guns.

In this order they went along for about five miles, when Capt.Lewis perceived, with the greatest delight, a man on horseback,at the dis tance of two miles , coming down the plain towardthem. . . .

Convinced that he was a Shoshonee, and knowing how muchour success depended on the friendly offices of that nation, Cap-tain Lewis was ful l of anxiety to approach without alarminghim, and endeavor to convince him that he [Lewis] was a whiteman. He therefore proceeded toward the Indian at his usualpace. When they were within a mile of each other the Indiansuddenly stopped. Captain Lewis immediately followed his ex-ample, took his blanket from his knapsack, and holding it withboth hands at the two corners, threw it above his head and un-folded it as he brought it to the ground, as if in the act of spread-ing it. This signal, which originates in the practice of spreadinga robe or skin, as a seat for guests to whom they wish to show


distinguished kindness, is the universal sign of friendship amongthe Indians on the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains .As usual , Captain Lewis repeated this s ignal three t imes; s t i l lthe Indian kept his position, and looked with an air of suspiciono n D r e w y e r a n d S h i e l d s , w h o w e r e n o w a d v a n c i n g o n e a c hside.

Captain Lewis was afraid to make any signal for them tohalt, lest he should increase the suspicions of the Indian, whobegan to be uneasy, and they were too distant to hear his voice.He therefore took from his pack some beads, a looking-glass, anda few trinkets, which he had brought for the purpose, and leav-i n g h i s g u n , a d v a n c e d , u n a r m e d , t o w a r d t h e I n d i a n . H e r e -mained in the same position till Captain Lewis came within 200yards of him, when he turned his horse and began to move offslowly. Captain Lewis then called out to him in as loud a voiceas he could, repeating the word “tabba bone!” which in the Sho-shonee language means white man; but looking over his shoul-der the Indian kept his eyes on Drewyer and Shields, who werestill advancing, without recollecting the impropriety of doing soat such a moment, till Captain Lewis made a signal to them toha l t . Th i s Drewye r obeyed ; bu t Sh i e ld s d id no t obse rve i t ,and still went forward. Seeing Drewyer halt, the Indian turnedhis horse about as if to wait for Captain Lewis, who now reachedwithin 150 paces, repeating the words “tabba bone,” holding upthe trinkets in his hand, and at the same time stripping up thesleeve of his shirt to show the color of his skin. The Indian suf-fered him to advance within 100 paces; then suddenly turninghis horse, and giving him the whip, leaped across the creek anddisappeared in an instant among the wil low-bushes. With himvanished all the hopes, which the sight of him had inspired, of afriendly introduction to his countrymen.

The Captain was terribly disappointed at the result, aswell he might be. He was “soarly chagrined” and “couldnot forbare abraiding” the two men somewhat. But theypushed ahead on the trail of the Indian, with the UnitedStates flag flying, stopped for breakfast, left at his breakfastcamp some “beads, trinkets, awls, some paint and a looking-glass” in order that if the Indians chanced upon the spotthey might know that their visitors were white men andfriends. They finally “lost the track of the fugitive Indian”


and then went into camp for the night, it may be presumed,tired, disappointed, perhaps well-nigh discouraged.

On the morning of August 12th,

. . . a t the dis tance of four miles f rom his camp he met al a r g e p l a i n I n d i a n r o a d w h i c h c a m e i n t o t h e c o v e f r o m t h enor theast , and wound a long the foot of the mountains to thesouthwest, approaching obliquely the main stream he had leftyesterday. . . .

They then continued through the low bottom, along the mainstream, near the foot of the mountains on their r ight . . . .The stream gradually became smaller, till, after going two miles,it had so greatly diminished in width that one of the men [M’Neal]in a fit of enthusiasm, with one foot on each side of the river,thanked God that he had lived to bestride the Missouri.From the foot of one of the lowest of these mountains, whichrises with a gentle ascent of about half a mile, issues the remot-est water [as Lewis thought] of the Missouri.

They had now reached the hidden sources of that r iver ,wh ich had neve r ye t been s een by c iv i l i z ed man . As t heyquenched their thirst at the chaste and icy fountain – as theysat down by the brink of that little rivulet, which yielded its dis-tant and remotest tribute to the parent ocean – they felt them-selves rewarded for all their labors and all their difficulties.

Crossing the Continental Divide,

they followed a descent much steeper than that on the easternside, and at the distance of three-quarters of a mile reached ahandsome, bold creek of cold, clear water, running to the west-ward. They stopped to taste for the first time the waters of theColumbia; and af ter a few minutes fol lowed the road acrosssteep hills and low hollows, till they reached a spring on theside of a mountain,

where they camped and ate their last piece of pork.Soon after leaving camp on the following day, they

discovered two women, a man, and some dogs on an emi-nence at the distance of a mile before them, who also fledupon their approach.

Continuing their journey with increasing hope,


they had not gone . . . more than a mile , when on a suddenthey saw three female Indians, from whom they had been con-cealed by the deep ravines which intersected the road, till theywere now within 30 paces of each other. One of them, a youngwoman, immediately took to f l ight ; the other two, an elderlywoman and a little girl, seeing they were too near for them toescape, sat on the ground, and holding down their heads seemedas if reconciled to the death which they supposed awaited them.. . .

Captain Lewis instant ly put down his r i f le , and advancingtoward them, took the woman by the hand, ra ised her up, andrepeated the words “tabba bone!” at the same time stripping uphis shirt-sleeve to prove that he was a white man – for his handsand face had become by constant exposure quite as dark as theirown. She appeared immediately rel ieved from her alarm; andDrewyer and Shields now coming up, Captain Lewis gave themsome beads, a few awls, pewter mirrors, and a little paint, and toldDrewyer to request the woman to recall her companion, who hadescaped to some dis tance and, by alarming the Indians, mightc a u s e t h e m t o a t t a c k h i m w i t h o u t a n y t i m e f o r e x p l a n a t i o n .S h e d i d a s s h e w a s d e s i r e d , a n d t h e y o u n g w o m a n r e t u r n e dalmost out of breath. Captain Lewis gave her an equal portionof t r inkets , and painted the tawny cheeks of a l l three of themw i t h v e r m i l i o n , a c e r e m o n y w h i c h a m o n g t h e S h o s h o n e e s i semblematic of peace.

After they had become composed, he informed them by signsof his wishes to go to their camp, in order to see their chiefs andwarriors; they readily obeyed, and conducted the party alongthe same road down the r iver . In this way they marched twomiles, when they met a troop of nearly sixty warriors, mountedon excel lent horses, r iding at ful l speed toward them. As theyadvanced Captain Lewis put down his gun, and went wi th theflag about 50 paces in advance. The chief, who with two menwas riding in front of the main body, spoke to the women, whonow explained that the party was composed of white men, andshowed exul t ingly the presents they had received. The threemen immediately leaped from their horses, came up to CaptainLewis and embraced him with great cordiality, putting their leftarm over his r ight shoulder and clasping his back, applying atthe same time their left cheek to his, and frequently vociferat-ing, “ah hi e, ah hi e!” – “I am much pleased! I am much re-joiced!” The whole body of warr iors now came forward, andour men received the caresses, with no small share of the greaseand paint of their new friends. After this fraternal embrace, of

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which the mot ive was much more agreeable than the manner ,Captain Lewis lighted a pipe and offered it to the Indians, whohad now seated themselves in a c i rc le around the par ty . Butbefore they would receive this mark of friendship they pulled offtheir moccasins; a custom, as we af terward learned, which in-dicates the sacred sincerity of their professions when they smokewith a stranger, and which imprecates on themselves the miseryof going barefoot forever if they are faithless to their words – apenalty by no means light to those who rove the thorny plainsof their country.

When the smoking was concluded,

the chief then moved on, our party followed him, and the resto f t h e w a r r i o r s i n a s q u a d r o n b r o u g h t u p t h e r e a r . . . . A tthe distance of four miles from where they had first met, theyreached the Indian camp, which was in a handsome level meadowon the bank of the river [where] they were introduced into an oldleathern lodge, which the young men who had been sent f romthe party had fitted up for their reception.

T h e c e r e m o n y o f s m o k i n g b e i n g c o n c l u d e d , a n d C a p t a i nLewis having explained to the chief [whose name was Cameah-wait] the purposes of his visit and distributed some small presents,i t was now late in the af ternoon, and our par ty had tas ted nofood since the night before. On apprising the chief of this cir-cumstance, he sa id that he had nothing but berr ies to eat , andpresented some cakes made of service-berries and choke-cherrieswhich had been dried in the sun. On these Captain Lewis madea hearty meal, and then walked down toward the [Lemhi] river.. . . T h e c h i e f i n f o r m e d h i m t h a t t h i s s t r e a m d i s c h a r g e d , a tthe distance of half a day’s march, into another [Salmon River]of twice its size, coming from the southwest; but added, on fur-t h e r i n q u i r y , t h a t t h e r e w a s s c a r c e l y m o r e t i m b e r b e l o w t h ejunction of those rivers than in this neighborhood, and that theriver was rocky, rapid, and so closely confined between highmountains that it was impossible to pass down it either by landor water to the great lake [Pacif ic Ocean] , where, as he hadunderstood, the white men l ived.

This information was far f rom being sat isfactory, for therewas no t imber here that would answer the purpose of bui ldingc a n o e s – i n d e e d n o t m o r e t h a n j u s t s u f f i c i e n t f o r f u e l . . . .The prospect of going on by land is more pleasant, for there aregreat numbers of horses feeding in every direct ion round the


camp, which will enable us to transport our stores, if necessary,over the mountains. . . .

Captain Lewis determined to remain with the Indianslong enough to enable Clark and the boat party to reach theforks, and in the meantime to gather such information aswas possible regarding the Columbia River country. Hewas now on short rations and the Indians were in the samecondition, but Drewyer and Shields set forth to hunt onhorses borrowed from the Indians, and the young Indianhunters started out on the same mission armed with bowsand arrows.

Having now secured the good will of Cameahwait, CaptainLewis informed him of his wish that he would speak to the war-riors, and endeavor to engage them to accompany him to theforks of Jefferson River; where by this time another chief, witha large party of white men, was awaiting his [Lewis’s] return;that it would be necessary to take about 30 horses to transportthe merchandise; that they should be well rewarded for theirtrouble; and that, when all the party should have reached theShoshonee camp, they would remain some time among them totrade for horses. . . . In about an hour and a half he re-turned, and told Captain Lewis that they would be ready toa c c o m p a n y h i m i n t h e m o r n i n g . . . .

AU G U S T 15th. Captain Lewis rose ear ly, and having eatennothing yesterday except his scanty meal of flour and berries,f e l t t h e i n c o n v e n i e n c e s o f e x t r e m e h u n g e r . O n i n q u i r y [ o fM’Neal] he found that his whole stock of provisions consisted oftwo pounds of f lour . This he ordered to be divided into twoequal parts, and one-half of it to be boiled with the berries intoa sort of pudding. After presenting a large share to the chief,he and his three men breakfasted on the remainder . . . [and]Captain Lewis now endeavored to hasten the departure of theIndians, who still hesitated and seemed reluctant to move. . . .Cameahwait told him that some fool ish person had suggestedthat he was in league with their enemies the Pahkees, and hadcome only to draw them into ambuscade; but that he himselfdid not believe it. Captain Lewis felt uneasy at this insinuation,. . . a n d s a w t h a t i f t h i s s u g g e s t i o n w e r e n o t i n s t a n t l ychecked, i t might hazard the total fa i lure of the enterprise .

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